


nightmares + stuffed teddy bears

by orphan_account



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Protective Older Brothers, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:55:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27155563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: recently began watching shameless and i absolutely love the lip/liam scenes 🥺.
Relationships: Lip Gallagher & Liam Gallagher, Lip Gallagher/Liam Gallagher
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	nightmares + stuffed teddy bears

**Author's Note:**

> season 4 of shameless is undoubtedly the best season. i love that liam’s got more of a prominent storyline surrounding him and how it intertwined with fiona and lip’s storylines as well. the acting in season 4 is phenomenal it’s improved so much from season 1. 
> 
> also i love how everyone’s got their own thing going on; debbie’s still a menace just like she’s always been and her predatory storyline is awful but other than that the season’s been amazing.

Lip’s sprawled out across the bed, the tousled covers were haphazardly strewn across his body as loud snores whistled through his nostrils. He’s in a deep slumber, exasperation worn and evident on his face if the dark bags under his eyes were anything to go by. It had been a long day of classes and juggling whatever insufferable chaos had inflicted upon the Gallagher household that day.

From recently having to take on the responsibility of attending to his younger siblings’ needs, to ensuring the stability of their house and making sure that they were up kept with all of the bills that had seemingly being to flow in more recent these days, Lip’s schedule has been relentlessly filled with tasks. 

It was expected of course. He knew that after temporarily taking the guardian responsibility from Fiona after her recent scandal which resulted in Liam’s hospitalization and near death scare, it was apparent to Lip that he needed to be parental figure so that he could give Fiona time to figure her shit out. 

Yeah, he’s been taking care of Debs, Carl and Liam since they were younger but this was different. He was like the parent now; they came to him for everything, school meetings, asked him what they were eating for dinner, help with homework—all of the things Fiona used to help them with.

It was a lot at times; especially when he had to commute back and forth most days of the week from school back to the Gallagher household so that he could look after Carl and Debbie, but it was his responsibility now. Fiona was around but for some reason unbeknownst to him, the kids had distanced themselves from her. Part of Lip felt guilty because he thinks that their standoffish behavior towards her was because of his own hostility that he still bared at her for her unforgivable mistake. He sees the sad looks she gives him whenever the kids come home and hug him instead of her or how they sit on the couch and snuggle up with him to watch whatever movie’s on TV. 

Lip knows that Fiona’s internally blaming herself for the incident with Liam just as much as he’s blaming her. He also knows that his calloused attitude towards her isn’t helping her feel any better but he was still angry at the fact that she could act so careless like that. He knows it wasn’t purposefully, she’d never do anything to intentionally hurt Liam or any of the other kids, but it still didn’t excuse her reckless behavior. Her mistake almost cost Liam his life; that was something that Lip couldn’t easily brush off with nonchalance.

It would take time but Lip knows that he’ll eventually forgive Fiona. But right now wasn’t that time. 

Lip’s lulled into a deep slumber when he feels a pair of hands shaking his shoulders. He stirs, growling groggily in annoyance as he rubs a hand over his heavy, bleary eyelids. “Carl, I’m fucking tired what is it–?” He huffs, cracking open one of his eyes expecting to see his younger brother standing there but instead he sees Liam instead. 

He’s dressed in his onesie Elmo pajamas, his stuffed monkey is clutched tightly to his chest. Though it was dark, Lip could see that his baby brother’s brown eyes were wide, traces of dried tear streaks stained his cheeks. Startled by the sight, Lip is haste as he sits up. 

“Hey, buddy, what’s wrong?” He asks softly, scooting to the edge of the bed so that he could better assess Liam. Usually, his little brother was a heavy sleeper who slept throughout the entirety of the night. But after the recent events, he’s been overwrought with reoccurring nightmares. He’s woken up two nights this week screaming at the night terrors that haunted him. “Another nightmare?”

Liam doesn’t answer. He only squeezes the rugged toy monkey closer to his chest before vaguely nodding his head. Lip sighs softly in defeat as he looked at his helpless little brother. His eyes flicker over to the nightstand to see that it was going on 4:30 in the morning.

“It’s kinda late. Here, just sleep in here with me tonight okay?” He offered, fluffing the dull pillow that was next to him and scooting over on the bed to make enough room for Liam. He extends his hands out, preparing to pick him up and sit him down on the bed but the moment Lip reached out to him Liam shook his head and took several tentative steps back. 

Lip furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What’s wrong, you don’t want to sleep in here?”

Liam nodded his head, only furthering Lip’s confusion. “You  do want to sleep in here?” Liam nodded his head again. “Okay, so come on.”

But Liam didn’t move. He only remained cemented in the same spot. Lip sighed deeply as he ran a hand down his face in exhaustion. “Buddy, I-” He looks over at Liam, remaining as cool as possible. “If you want to sleep in here then you can. But if you want to go back in there with Carl, then—”

“No!” He answered, eyes wide as he shook his head in refusal. 

“Liam-” Lip reaches out for his kid brother again only to pause mid-movement when the lingering putrid smell of urine whiffs in his nostrils. He sniffs, the smell getting louder as he inched closer to Liam. Reaching over, Lip turns on the lamp to retrieve a better look. When the lights come on, Liam cowered away, his eyes lowering in chagrin as he squeezes the toy.

Lip’s eyes assessed Liam’s clothing. On the front of his pajamas was a big dark, wet spot on the front. Lip, upon finally realizing why his brother was so hesitant in climbing into bed with him, leaned his head down so that he could meet Liam’s eyes. “This why you didn’t want to get in bed? Because you accidentally wet yourself?” Liam nodded. 

“Hey,” Lip says, causing Liam to look up apprehensively. “It’s okay. You had a nightmare and were probably too scared to move. It happens. Come on, you’ll take a quick bath and we’ll put you on some new clothes okay?” 

Just as he stated, Lip grabbed Liam’s hand and led him down the hall into the bathroom. Stripping him down of his dirty, wet clothes, Lip turned on the water faucet and filled the tub up with warm water. He sat Liam inside and trotted off to grab a clean washcloth and dry off towel.

Lip gave him a quick but thorough wash, making sure he cleaned the essential parts of his body.When he was freshly cleaned, he assisted Liam in putting on a fresh pair of pajamas. 

“See, now you’re all clean.” He decided to clean the sheets in the morning, he was too tired to walk downstairs to start a new load.

When he returned back into his bedroom, Liam was already curled underneath the covers, laying with his head against the pillow. Lip smiled as he turned off the light and climbed back in bed. “Goodnight, buddy.”

“G’night, Lip.” 


End file.
